Allowing the idea of being a mentor to suggest superiority or prestige is a pitfall. This pitfall occurs when we confuse an emphasis or focus on the mentor (because we have something the mentee wants) with superiority. This pitfall of superiority is a subtle one as it demands self-awareness from you as a mentor to spot both the tendency and the impact it is having upon your outlook and behavior.

When we are self-aware, we are more conscious of what we’re doing and why we’re doing that. This means we can make better choices in the moment and over time. As a mentor, you need to retain a sense of equality in the relationship, that you are no better or worse than your mentee, and that this is a relationship where both parties have equal ability to influence. Retaining a sense of humility as a mentor does not mean that you should put yourself in a ‘lower’ position to the person you are mentoring; humility is simply an opportunity to perceive yourself appropriately in the context of the relationship.

Where you may have placed yourself in a perceived position of equality or inequality, you can shift your perception to be something different. As you know, our perception of something creates our reality of it.